ECE 264 Advanced C Programming Fall 2014

Course goals

Learning objectives

A student who successfully fulfills the course requirements will have demonstrated:

1. an ability to read and write C programs that use recursion. [1,4;a,b,c,e,k]
2. an ability to read and write C programs that use structures. [1,4;a,b,c,e,k]
3. an ability to read and write C programs that use dynamic data structures. [1,4;a,b,c,e,k]
4. an ability to read and write C programs that use files. [1,4;a,b,c,e,k]

Content

The following topics will be covered in this course (though not necessarily in this order):

• Explain how the call stack changes as a program progresses
  • Understand how local variables and arguments appear on call stack in function codes
  • Understand how call stack grows when a function called
  • Understand how call stack shrinks when a function completes
  • Understand where the program continues after a function completes
  • Understand pointers
    • Distinguish the meaning of the pointer in four different context
    • Apply pointers in appropriate context
• Implement algorithms using C
  • Describe an algorithm in English
    • Describe the assumptions and restrictions of the problem
    • Describe the input of the algorithm
    • Describe the desired outcome of the algorithm
    • Describe the procedure to produce the desired outcome from the input
  • Generate scenarios to validate the algorithm
    • Describe all valid scenarios that can be handled by the algorithm
    • Identify at least three invalid scenarios which cannot be handled by the algorithm
  • Translate an algorithm from English to a C program
    • Choose appropriate library functions when translating an algorithm
    • Utilize online manual of library functions and distinguish between related functions
    • Convert the procedure in English to appropriate syntax in the C program
  • Create test cases to verify the program
    • Differentiate between correct and incorrect results when testing a program
    • Understand the functionalities of various tools for testing and debugging
    • Utilize appropriate tools in testing
    • Interpret the results from testing and take appropriate action for correcting the program
• Write programs that use recursion
  • Explain the terminating condition(s) of recursion
  • Describe the solution for a complex case based on the solutions of simpler cases
  • Translate a recursive solution from English to a C program
• Manage memory
  • Distinguish between memory using call stack or heap
  • Understand call stack is managed by compiler
  • Understand heap memory is managed by programmer
  • Identify the conditions when dynamic memory allocation and release are required
  • Utilize appropriate tools to detect inappropriate memory usage
• Create new data types that can be dynamically allocated or released
  • Understand the purpose of new data types and how to create new data types
  • Define self-referring data types for recording data of unknown size
  • Describe algorithms using self-referring data types
  • Distinguish between data types with different time and space efficiency
  • Implement the algorithms in C programs
• Develop the ability to read program specifications and documentations
  • Understand the requirements in a specification
  • Identify incomplete or inconsistent requirements in a specification
  • Make appropriate decisions in interpreting specifications and clearly document the decisions
  • Look up references for the C language